This invention relates to a pin straightening tool useful for straightening bent connector pins and also useful for insuring that all the connector pins of an electronic module are straight and concentrically located with respect to the connector receptacle.
Certain connectors including the General Purpose Output (GPO) connector have a very small (e.g., 0.012 inches) diameter center conductor pin which is susceptible to bending inside the GPO receptacle. Since the receptacle surrounds the pin, and since many GPO connectors may be present in a given electronic module, it can be difficult to detect when a connector pin is bent and/or when it is not concentrically located within the receptacle.
The other portion of the connector, typically referred to as a plug, then receives the pin as the plug forced into the receptacle. If the pin is bent, however, the action of forcing the plug into the receptacle can further bend the pin resulting in an incomplete connection or, worse, pin breakage which can lead to scrapping the often expensive electronic module.
Even if the pin is bent but not broken, however, testing or operation of the electronic module will result in a failure requiring expensive and time consuming trouble shooting, re-work, and finally, once the failure mode is determined, repair of the bent pin.
Currently, small tweezers are used to straighten the pin but this practice is difficult to master resulting in a time consuming trial and error process which does not always ensure that the pin is both straight and also that it is concentrically located in the connector receptacle. Another prior art device includes a shaft with a single bore which receives the pin therein. Unfortunately, this device cannot be effectively used if the pin is severely bent, and, even if the pin is only slightly bent, this tool does not always result in a straight pin or, worse, can result in a broken pin in which case, as stated above, the electronic module may have to be scrapped. Moreover, this prior art tool is also somewhat difficult to use.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a more useful and precise pin straightening tool.
It is a further object of this invention to provide such a pin straightening tool which can be used with GPO connectors and also with other types of connectors having pins.
It is a further object of this invention to provide such a pin straightening tool which can be used to straighten bent connector pins and which can also be used to ensure that all the connector pins of an electronic module are straight and concentrically located in the connector receptacle before the plugs are placed therein.
It is a further object of this invention to provide such a pin straightening tool which allows the operator to gently straighten even severely bent connector pins without breaking them.
It is a further object of this invention to provide such a pin straightening tool which is simple to use.
It is a further object of this invention to provide such a pin straightening tool which easy to manufacture.
It is a further object of this invention to provide such a pin straightening tool which is cost effective to manufacture.
It is a further object of this invention to provide such a pin straightening tool which prevents scrapping of expensive electronic modules.
It is a further object of this invention to provide such a pin straightening tool which eliminates the expense involved with time consuming trouble shooting, re-work, and analysis of electronic modules with bent and/or non-concentrically located pins.
It is a further object of this invention to provide such a pin straightening tool which, if used correctly, ensures that the connector pins are straight and provides feedback to the user when a bent pin is properly straightened and concentrically located in its receptacle.
The invention results from the realization that a more precise and easier to use pin straightening tool is effected by a) a shaft terminating in an end assembly with an outer diameter slightly less than the inner diameter of the receptacle housing the pin and fashioned with an inner cam shaped wall or collar which surrounds the connector pin and which straightens and also concentrically aligns the pin in the receptacle as the shaft is rotated, and b) a bore adjacent the cam shaped wall or collar into which the pin is received and straightened when the pin is concentrically aligned thus providing a positive feedback to the operator that the pin is now straight.
This invention features a pin straightening tool comprising a shaft terminating in an end assembly and a chamber in the end assembly for receiving a bent pin therein. The chamber terminates in a shelf inside the end assembly and there is a bore located in the chamber for straightening the bent pin as the shaft is rotated urging the distal end of the bent pin into the bore.
In a preferred embodiment, the bore is located in the center of the end assembly and the chamber is located eccentrically with respect to the center of the end assembly. Also in the preferred embodiment, the chamber includes a gap therein forming two opposing longitudinally extending edges which can be driven behind the bent pin. The bore typically has a rearward side abutting a rearward edge of the shelf.
In one example, the bore has a diameter slightly greater than the diameter of the pin, the chamber has a diameter much larger than the diameter of the bore, the chamber has a depth less than the length of the pin, and the depth of the bore when added to the depth of the chamber totals a length greater than the length of the pin.
In the preferred embodiment, the end assembly includes a first reduced diameter portion receivable in the receptacle containing the pin therein. The first reduced diameter portion has an outside diameter less than the inside diameter of the receptacle and the chamber is located in the first reduced diameter portion. Preferably, the end assembly further includes a second reduced diameter portion also receivable in the receptacle containing the pin. The outside diameter of the second reduced diameter portion is slightly less than the inside diameter of the receptacle. In this embodiment, the bore extends into second reduced diameter portion.
The second reduced diameter portion preferably has a length less than the depth of the receptacle, and the second reduced diameter portion defines a shoulder on the end assembly larger in diameter than the receptacle. There may also be a sloping wall between the first reduced diameter portion and the second reduced diameter portion for aligning the second reduced diameter portion in the receptacle. In one example, the shaft includes a knurled finish for gripping thereof, the shaft is round, and the end assembly is round.
One pin straightening tool in accordance with this invention includes a shaft terminating in an end assembly receivable in a receptacle containing a bent pin, a cam surface inside the end assembly configured to urge the distal end of the bent pin into a straight configuration, and a bore which receives the distal end of the bent pin therein when it is urged into the straight configuration by the cam surface. Typically, the cam surface is the interior wall of a chamber formed in the end assembly. This chamber may terminate in a shelf inside the end assembly. Preferably, the bore is located in the center of the end assembly and the chamber is located eccentrically with respect to the center of the end assembly. In addition, the chamber may include a gap therein forming two opposing longitudinally extending edges which can be driven behind a bent pin.
The pin straightening tool of this invention may include a shaft terminating in an end assembly having a first distally located reduced diameter portion and a second larger reduced diameter portion adjacent the first reduced diameter portion, a chamber in the first reduced diameter portion terminating in a shelf, the chamber having a gap therein forming two opposing longitudinally extending edges which can be driven behind a bent over pin, and a bore located in the shelf and extending into the second reduced diameter portion for straightening the bent pin as the shaft is rotated forcing the distal end of the bent pin into the bore.
A pin straightening tool in accordance with a preferred embodiment of this invention comprises a shaft terminating in an end assembly, a chamber in the end assembly terminating in a shelf therein, the chamber having an interior wall defining a cam surface terminating in a gap forming two opposing longitudinally extending edges receivable in a receptacle containing a bent pin therein, and a bore abutting the interior wall of the chamber for receiving the bent pin therein as the tool is rotated, as one longitudinally extending edge moves behind the bent pin, and the cam surface urges the bent pin into the bore.
In one example, there is a shaft, a collar portion on a distal end of the shaft which urges the pin into a concentric relationship inside the receptacle, and a bore which receives the distal end of the pin therein as the collar portion is rotated. Typically, the collar portion is defined by a reduced diameter distal end of the shaft, and an opening in the reduced diameter distal end of the shaft in communication with the chamber.